DIVE ALIVE! Siberia’s Tracy Westmoreland Gets Back Into the Bar Game

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Tracy Westmoreland kind of shocked us last year when he told us his late, beloved dive Siberia belonged in Brooklyn: “What Siberia is should be in Brooklyn,” he said then. “They just don’t have anything like it.” Well, this Friday he’ll make good by opening a bar called Manhattans at 769 Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights, in the former Ripple Bar space. Yelp reviews describe Ripple as being the size of an apartment and looking like it’s constantly under construction — one reviewer says, “When people ask me what Ripple is like, I suggest they imagine their best friend’s van breaking down and as they start looking for a road map in the back to find out exactly where they are they discover a fresh bottle of whiskey.” Hmmm, we can see why the place reminded Westmoreland of Siberia.

He tells Brooklyn the Borough he hasn’t changed much and that “this bar will draw the coolest people that live in Brooklyn — I want the artists, I want the freaks, I want the drag queens.” We’re thinking Chris Wilson will be the first regular — if there’s any truth to rumors that the Beatrice was shut down after he got into a scuffle, dude may be in need of a new home.